Ólafur Arnalds - The Bridport homecoming gig

On 23rd February, Icelandic composer, multi-instrumentalist and music composer Ólafur Arnalds descended on the small Dorset coastal resort of Bridport. The previous night he'd filled the main hall at London's Barbican and yet he specifically requested the 500-capacity 1920s cinema/arts venue be included on his latest tour, which also takes in Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. The reason? This was his homecoming gig, and yet this wasn't his actual home. But if anyone can claim to have given a town a theme, a soundtrack for its scenery, it's Arnalds. 

By scoring two series of ITV's popular crime drama Broadchurch, the composer has indelibly etched his mix of weeping string quartet, dissonant trombone, wayward horns and keyboard/piano on this stretch of Jurassic coast. Walk along the quay or up the steep incline of the cliffs up from West Bay and it's Ólafur's beautiful compositions that you'll hear, and that's why hundreds of locals and fans dragged themselves out on a cold and wet Monday night. Of course, the added attraction was the way that the gig had transformed itself from being just a date on the tour to being a local première of Broadchurch's season finale. 

Coincidence or just serendipity? Whatever the reason, the opportunity was taken to show the last episode on the big screen, with the added glamour of series star Jodie Whittaker introducing it. 

Series creator and writer Chris Chibnall was also to hand, taking the opportunity to get a live audience reaction to the cheeky twists and turns he'd added to the episode - ITV News was also on hand to capture the audience's shock/awe/screeches.

But the screening, celebrity intro and media interest were just the icing on the cake. The main event was Ólafur's wonderful music and he didn't disappoint with a set of nearly 90-minutes, carefully leaving time for the stage to be struck in time for the 9 o'clock screening. 

Primarily drawn from his Broadchurch scores and album For Now I am Winter, the latter includes collaborations with vocalist Arnór Dan, who also appeared on stage to perform tracks from that album, as well as So Close and So Far, the end credits songs on Broadchurch. Both Olafur and Arnór made light of the fact that only a few seconds of the tracks are heard on screen before the continuity announcer cuts in. So here was the chance to indulge in both songs in full without the interruptions.

Arnalds also played a track from the finale we were about to watch, and while it was possible to pick it out during the episode, it was competing with the on-screen drama. What we got here wasn't quite Broadchurch unplugged but Broadchurch uninterrupted - pure music without all the acting, sound effects and scenery. 

The last regular piece before the encore was Beth's Theme (or Jodie's Theme, as Olafur renamed it for that night in honour of his guest). Its simple melody, underscored by the melancholy strings, is the very heart of the show's soundtrack. Grief, loss and the stirrings of hope all come through. It's the score's highlight and goosebumps mingled with sobs as the sheer power of it enveloped the enchanted audience.

Hopefully not a one-off - Olafur said he'd like to return - this was a unique event. The composer has conjured sonic alchemy - he has turned some rock into music gold. Few towns can boast their own soundtrack, Bridport and West Bay have never had it so good.

Meeting the Doctors

Here's the continuing story of my encounters with The Doctor: With a bumper update for August 2018

William Hartnell - Sadly, I never met him or saw him before he died. I met his wife, Heather, at Longleat 1983 where she signed a Richard Hurndall postcard!

Patrick Troughton - My one occasion to see Patrick was on 4 April 1983 at the legendary Longleat Doctor Who 20th Anniversary convention. Luckily we had tickets, so weren't turned away at the gates as so many fans were. After hours of queuing outside the Orangery, I met Pat (and Sarah Sutton) and he signed a publicity photograph from The Five Doctors. Sadly, this postcard has been long lost.

(Update: August 7th 2018 - Special Edition of Doctor who Magazine has a photo of Trina and I with Patrick at the above event! This photo was taken 35 years previously and i never knew it existed. I never knew that I was in a photo with him. What an amazing discovery!

Jon Pertwee - I also saw Jon Pertwee at the Longleat event on 4 April 1983. Jon was being interviewed by Ed 'Stewpot' Stewart on a safari boat, docked on the river. I ran down to the water's edge, called his name and the photo was taken when he turned round.  

Tom Baker -  I first met Tom in August 1997 at a Longleat Doctor Who event for a news piece I wrote for TV Zone magazine, just a taster for a lengthy interview with him about his autobiography that September - Who on Earth is Tom Baker? I saw him again at a convention in Barking in 2009 where Andy and I posed for a photo, and again at the Time Quest 2 convention in March 2010.  

Peter Davison - I've met Peter on many occasions. First was a signing event at the Stamp Centre in central London, followed by autographs at The Doctors convention in Time Quest 2 and Projects MotorMouth 1 and 2 in 2013. I also saw him live on stage at the Doctor Who Prom 2013 and the Excel 50th Anniversary conference. He was also be host at the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular and I saw him at the launch of his autobiography in October 2016.

Colin Baker - I first met Colin on Bournemouth Pier after a performance of farce Run for your Wife in 1995. I then interviewed him for TV Zone at a Doctor Who Longleat event in August 1998. Further autos were picked up at Fleet Air Museum, Time Quest 2 and PMM1, though sadly he was too late to be in the group photo for the latter. I also saw him as Inspector Morse in the touring stage play in September 2010 and at the Excel November 2013. I finally got his photo at convention in Salisbury in July 2017!

Sylvester McCoy - I first met Sylv at the RSC Stratford following his performance as a Fool in King Lear in September 2007. I then saw him as Mushnik in The Little Shop of Horrors musical in Brighton October 2009. He was at Time Quest 2 and PMM1 conventions, as well as Fleet Air Museum. I also him on stage at the Excel, November 2013.

Paul McGann - I met Paul at the bar in Shakespeare's Globe August 2009 following his performance in Helen. He was also at The Doctors and PMM1. 

John Hurt - I met John Hurt at Brighton Film and Comic Con in November 2015. I had tickets to see him in  Kenneth Branagh's production of The Entertainer in summer 2016 but he had to pull out due to illness and sadly passed away soon after. 

Christopher Ecclestone - I met Chris at the Donmar Warehouse stage door following his performance with Gillian Anderson in A Doll's House June 2009. I also watched him on stage at National Theatre in June 2012 for Antigone (which also starred Jodie Whittaker in the lead role), but he didn't come out to sign that time. Finally got his photo at a fund-raising event in April 2016 in Newbury and at the RSC Stratford in July 2018.

David Tennant - First saw David on stage at the RSC Stratford after Hamlet in October 2008, where I grabbed an autograph among the throng of admiring fans at the stage door. The same month and at the same venue venue I saw him in Love's Labours Lost? I also also saw him on stage with Catherine Tate in Much Ado About Nothing. It was PMM1 in Jan 2013 when I finally got a decent autograph from him and a group photo with the other Doctors present. I also saw him at Stratford RSC again as Richard II in October 2013 and in Don Juan in Soho in April 2017.

Matt Smith - I first saw Matt in person at a BAFTA event for the premiere of The Pandorica Opens June 2010 though I didn't get his autograph until the official BBC convention in Cardiff May 2012. I got a photo with him at the 50th Celebration on 22 November 2013. Elsewhere I saw him on stage at the July 2011 and 2013 Doctor Who Proms, the lead in American Psycho the Musical at the Almeida in December 2013 and Unreachable at the Royal Court in July 2016.

Peter Capaldi - I joined the scrambling masses at the barriers of the Deep Breath premiere in Cardiff and was lucky to get an autograph from him (and Sam Anderson) in August 2014. There's also a photo of the back of my head next to him - though that hardly counts. So it was great on November 30th 2015 to get a decent photo and less scribbly autograph. In May 2015 I watched Peter filming The Zygon Inversion in Cardiff. In November 2015 I was lucky enough to interview Peter at the BBC and have a photo with him at the Doctor Who Festival at the Excel.

 

 

Jodie Whittaker - And now Doctor 13. I was lucky enough to meet Jodie in March 2015 at a Broadchurch event in Bridport. Dorset, where she signed my BluRay sleeve. She's also the first Doctor I've seen in a play (and with a former Doctor - Eccleston) prior to being cast. On 11th August Jodie presented a special Behind the Screen: Films of My Life event at Somerset House. At the end she agreed to pose for selfies for all 60 people. What a star!